Multiple timecard



Patented Nov. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,657,942 MULTIPLErn'unoann I Grange fiattison, Chicago, Ill. AppllcationDcembei' 23,1950, serial No. 202,523 comma. (01.282-23) working time intervals of ithe person-to whom the card is issued. Working interval recordsconventionally are and have been made and kepton time cards adapted formarking by action oi the card holding worker at the commencement andtermination of each. work interval, the cards being usually marked byinsertion thereof in and operation or time printing mechanism commonlyreferred to as a time recording eloclsi." Such time cards usuallycompriseiorms printed on relatively heavy gauge card stock. Time cardsare normally individually marked; as with a typewriter, to identify thecard with the person to whom the card isxissued: Such cards are alsonormally, if not invariably; arranged. to cover several workingintervals within a more extended working period, such as one completework week. after which thecards are collected. for auditing, new cardsbeing issued for'thenext succeeding work period. A'considerable amountot secretarial labor thus required for individually marking and issuingthe cards at the ment of each work period. Fnrthermore the card's, beingofsubstantial thickness, present a storage problem if preserved for anylength or time after the record making period. I 1 T important obj 't-'f the present invention is to provide improved time record card meansallowing for the issuance thereof to individual workers at minimumexpense of secretarial labor required to mark the improved card meanathe improved record card means of the present inven tion serving. alsoto minimize the storage problem encountered inpreserving working thnerecord's after the same have been. made and audited. 1

Another importantobject of the inventionisto provide an improved timecard unit embodying a plurality of padded sheets oi relatively'thinmaterial supported in stacked relationship on a relg' atively rigidbacking plate, each sheet providing space for the recording ofsuccessive working inems during an extended workingflperiod, such as awork week, whereby the unit wfll cover sev-} eral successive workingperiods, as for example thirteen consec mtive working weeks, bysuccessively removing the padded sheets each at the termination of awork period, without disturbing the remaining sheets, the several paddedsheets according marking areas in superposed registration for themarking of individual data thereon as by means of a typewriter, and eachsheet hav-' ing transfer pigment applied upon the rear suriace thereofin registration with said marking areas, whereby all or the paddedsheets of a unit may be simultaneously marked;

The foregoing and numerous other important objects and advantages andinherent functions of the invention will become apparentas the same ismore clearly understood from the following description which, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, Rig. 1 is a perspective view of a mu tiplesheet time recording pad unit embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary race view ota portion of a sheet of the pad unitshown in 1;

Fig; 3 illustrates the back of the sheet portion showniniigz; g M 4 is asectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 in Fig. I; and vFigs. 5, 6 and 7am sectiohalviews similar to Fig. 4 showing modifiedforms of construction;

To illustrate thei'nvention, the drawings show a time record keepingunitH, in the form of a pad, comprising a pluralityoi sheets l3 preterablyof thin yet relatively tough material, such as paper, the sheets beingsecured together ator adjacent their opposite ends, and being preferably mounted and secured atsai'd opposite'ends upon'a backing panel M ofsomewhat heavier material, such as paperboard or thin card stock; Inthis connection, the sheets may be padded together and secured to thebackingpanel as by means of cement l6 applied only at the opposite endedge extremities of the sheets and panel, as shown in Fig. 7. The sheetsl3 how ever may be perforated, as along tear lines l5, parallel to andspaced inwardly of one or both or the opposite edges of the she'ets. Thesheets preterably are thus prov'ided with tear lines at least adjacentthe top end; of the pad; in which case the sheets and panel at theopposite or bottom end 01' the unit may be cemented together at theextremities of the bottom and edges there of, in the manner shown inFig. 7. As shown in Figs. 1-6, however; sheets may be perforated on tearlines l5 adjacent both ends of thepad unit,

the sheets being padded together and secured to the backing panel I4between the tear lines 15 and the end edges of the sheet as by means ofcement l6 to secure the sheets together and to the backing panel, asindicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings; or the sheets may be fastenedtogether and to the backing panel as by means of staples i! as shown inFig. 5. If desired, a strip of binding material [8 may be secured, as bycementing or otherwise, upcn the opposite end edges of the pad, saidbinding strips preferably overlying the backing panel M as well as theend edges of the uppermost sheet l3, outwardly of the tear lines l5, asshown more particularly in Fig. 6. These binding strips may serve tostrengthen and. protect the ends of the pad and facilitate the insertionof the pad in the usually slot-like pocket of time printing mechanism inwhich the pad unit is adapted to be inserted for time marking pur-.poses.

Each sheet 13 is the substantial duplicate of every other sheet and theyare padded in superposed registration. Each sheet comprises a recordingarea if! adapted to receive time interval recording markings byoperation of a time recording clock in which the unit may be placed formarking. Each sheet also comprises a marking area 20 adapted to bemarked, as in a typewriter, with identifying indicia, such as the name,number and working department of the person to whom the card is to beissued, as a part of the card issuing operation. Each sheet also mayinclude an accounting area 2| adapted to be marked with auditinformation, such as days worked, the work week covered by the sheet,the number of hours worked during the period, the applicable rate ofpay, total earned, tax withholding, and like information required inauditing the record sheet.

Each sheet also, on the rear face thereof, in registration with themarking area 20, as shown more particularly in Fig. 3 of the drawings,is provided with a layer or coating of transfer or copying pigment 22,such as carbon black, such layer facing upon and overlying the markingarea 20 of the next underlying sheet i3. As a consequence, in preparinga unit ii for issuance, the name and other personal data of the workerto whom the unit is to be issued may be applied in the marking areas 20of all of the sheets iii of the pad simultaneously, merely bytypewriting or otherwise printing the information in the marking area ofthe uppermost sheet II! of the pad unit, the remaining sheets beingmarked by the copying action of the layers 22. The marked unit may thenbe issued and used by the owner thereof during the successive workperiods represented by the successive sheets I3 of the pad. At theconclusion of each work period the uppermost sheet may be removed bytearing the same from the pad along the tear lines l3. The time markeduppermost sheet may be delivered for auditing while the person to whomthe unit has been issued continues to hold and use the same Ior timerecording purposes during successive working periods. While padsembodying the present invention may, of course, be made up with anydesired number of sheets l3, it is thought that pads comprising thirteensheets, representing a quarter annual period, will provide a convenientunit not only for use in standard time recording mechanism but one whichis well adapted to facilitate accounting procedures. It will beappreciated, of course, that considerable saving of card issuing laborwill be accomplished where it is necessary to perform the card issuingfunction but four times a year instead of fifty-two, as is necessarywhen using conventional record cards.

It will be obvious also that the relatively thin paper record sheets l3can be preserved and stored easily, thereby substantially minimizing theproblem of maintaining time records after the same have been audited.

If desired the back panel ll, which preferably comprises heaviermaterial than-the sheets l3, may also be formed with recording, markingand accounting areas duplicating the corresponding areas of the sheetsand disposed in the pad in underlying registration with respect to saidsheet areas. In such an arrangement the backing card may itselfconstitute the time recording element covering the concluding workperiod of the series for which the pad may have been issued. Thephysical contrast between the relatively heavy back panel and therelatively thinner sheets I! may be utilized, in accounting procedures,to indicate the termination of an accounting period to accounting andcard issuing personnel, and to denote the necessity of issuing a freshpad unit for the next succeeding accounting period.

In this connection a pad unit comprising thirteensheets and a suitablebacking panel may have overall thickness of the order of 1 inch andhence be well adapted for use in conventional time marking mechanismsfor time record purposes, without alteration of existing markingequipment.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantageswill be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it isobvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit orscope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages,the form herein disclosed being the preferred embodiment for the purposeof illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A time recording pad unit adapted for marking in clock controlledprinting mechanism for time recording purposes, said pad unit embodyinga plurality of sheets. means securing the opposite ends of said sheetstogether at the opposed margins of the pad, to hold the sheets instacked relation, each of said sheets having designated areas defined inthe front faces thereof and disposed in superposed registration in thepad unit, including a time marking area and an indicia receiving areafor receiving pad-identifying indicia, said sheets each having a layerof copying pigment disposed on the backs thereof in underlyingregistration with the indicia receiving area of the sheet, each sheetbeing free of copying pigment in registration with its time markingarea, whereby all of the sheets may simultaneously be marked withidentical identifying indicia, and the sheets may be individually markedfor time recording purposes in the time marking area thereof, each ofsaid sheets, after being so individually marked, being successivelyremovable from said pad unit by separating the sheet from the unit alongthe end margins thereof, to thereby reveal the time marking area of anext underlying sheet in condition for the reception of time recordmarkings thereon.

2. A time recording pad unit adapted for marking in clock controlledprinting mechanism for time recording purposes, said pad unit embodyinga plurality of sheets of thin, flexible stock and a backing panel ofrelatively heavier and less flexible material, means securing theopposite ends of said sheets and panel together at the opposed marginsof the pad, to hold the same in stacked relation, each of said sheetshaving designated areas defined in the frontfaces thereof and disposedin superposed registration in the pad unit, including a time markingarea and an indicia receiving area for receiving pad-identifyingindicia, said sheets each having a layer of copying pigment disposed onthe backs thereof in underlying registration with respect to the indiciareceiving area of the sheet, each sheet being free of copying pigment inregistration with its time marking area, whereby all of the sheets andthe backing panel may simultaneously be marked with identicalidentifying indicia and the sheets may be individually marked for timerecording purposes in the time marking areas thereof, each of saidsheets, after being so indi- 6 vidually marked, being successivelyremovable from said pad unit by separating the sheet from the pad unitalong the end margins thereof, to thereby reveal the time marking areaof a next underlying sheet in condition for the reception of time recordmarkings thereon.

GRANGE K. PATTISON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,512,784 Minch Oct. 21, 1924 1,931,140 Bohmert Oct. 17, 19332,366,436 Camps Jan. 2, 1945 2,536,371 Hutchison Jan. 2, 1951 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 183,226 Switzerland June 16, 1936

